Rwanda’s fast-rising swimmer Isihaka Iradukunda, has been ranked into the top 50 African butterfly swimmers in both 50 and 100 metres.
The swimmer achieved the milestone after impressing at the Commonwealth Games in August, 2022.
Iradukunda’s 26.84 seconds in 50 meters and 1:00.95 in 100 meters that he recorded in the 2022 Commonwealth Games saw him ranked 49th and 36th on the continent respectively in Africa as per the rankings released by the African Swimming Confederation (CANA) on Wednesday, January 18.
In an interview with Times Sports, the budding swimmer said that it wasn’t easy to do what he has achieved in 2022 before saying that he is looking forward to improving his personal best and climbing way higher in the 2023 ranking.
"To be named among the top 50 best swimmers in Africa is a huge achievement to me,” he said.
"Every progress in a professional sport requires sacrifices, I have worked harder to reduce my times,” he added.
The Gisenyi Beach Swimming Club player said that his eyes are now set on the 2023 World Aquatics Championships slated for July 14-30 in Japan.
"I want to impress in this year’s world championship in Japan just like I did in the Commonwealth Games. I want to improve my times there too because when you perform well in these bigger competitions, that’s what gives you a better ranking in Africa and the world in general,” he said.
The World Aquatics Championships are the World Championships for aquatics sports including swimming, diving, high diving, open water swimming, artistic swimming, and water polo.
They are run by World Aquatics, formerly International Swimming Federation (FINA), and all swimming events are contested in a long course (50-metre) pool.
Top Five Best Swimmers (50m)
1. A. Khalifallah (22,13) Egypt
2. O. Sohnoune (22,13) Algeria
3. P. Coetze (22,34) Central Africa Republic
4. Y. Tarek Ramadan (22,39) Egypt
5. C. Jimmie (22,47) Central Africa Republic
Top Five Best Swimmers (100m)
1. Tarek Ramadan (48,90) Egypt
2. M. Sates (48,97) Central Africa Republic
3. Sohnoune (49,21) Algeria
4. S. Mohamed (49,30) Egypt
5. C. Le Clos (49,41) Central Africa Republic